The New Science of Politics: An Introduction

by Eric Voegelin

Book Overview

"Thirty-five years ago few could have predicted that The New Science of Politics would be a best-seller by political theory standards. Compressed within the Draconian economy of the six Walgreen lectures is a complete theory of man, society, and history, presented at the most profound and intellectual level. . . . Voegelin's work] stands out in bold relief from much of what has passed under the name of political science in recent decades...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0226861147
• ISBN13: 9780226861142
• Release Date: August 1987
• Publisher: University of Chicago Press
• Length: 210 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.6" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

So much brilliance, so little space!

The New Science of Politics (NSP henceforth) is packed and packed with information, but unlike most philosophers, Voegelin keeps the length of the book short. This isn't to say the NSP lacks nuance, however. Voegelin's ideas are provocative, full of substance, and not your average every-day take on the political. Despite having read the book twice, I am still trying to get my mind around some of the theories and implications of said theories presented in NSP. The amount of material and ideas that Voegelin interacts with in NSP is astounding, and is characteristic of his work. He draws from a multitude of different sources, theories, examples, etc. However, I do have a word of warning. Voegelin comes from the continental tradition of philosophy and English is not his forst language. This means that the book will not be easy reading for us analytic Americans. I had to start over halfway through the book, but once I did, it was a much smoother and more enjoyable ride. All in all, this book is worth the money if you are in to political theory.

A Great Intro to Voegelin

This was the first of Voegelin's works that I ever read, and I think it is a great intro to his thought. First of all, "The New Science of Politics" is one of his more important works. His construction of modern gnosticism within this piece is a very significant challenge to the foundation values that are the hallmark of modernity. If this is the first of Voegelin's works that you will be reading, and if you're anything like me, this will be a very hard book to get through. The writing is very hard, and that is compounded by the fact that the concepts being discussed are so profound. If you get a vague idea of what Voegelin is trying to say after reading this book then you are doing just fine. I read this book first, and then read Modernity Without Restraint: The Political Religions, The New Science of Politics, and Science, Politics, and Gnosticism (Collected Works of Eric Voegelin, Volume 5), which includes this book along with two others related to modern gnosticism. I learned a lot more and understood Voegelin a lot more clearly the second time I read this work; so if you find yourself confused, keep on going and you'll get there... A couple other of Voegelin's collected works that deal with the topic of modern gnosticism are: Published Essays: 1940-1952 (Collected Works of Eric Voegelin, Volume 10); Published Essays: 1953-1965 (The Collected Works of Eric Voegelin, Volume 11); and Published Essays: 1966-1985 (The Collected Works of Eric Voegelin, Volume 12). The last of those three deals with modern gnosticism the least, so start with the first two if you're looking for addition material. Voegelin is a great thinker and his work is very challenging. Yet I think his ideas contain profound truths that moderns like us would do well to consider. Five stars for a classic piece of conservative political philosophy.

A Masterful Synthesis

Eric Voegelin, who died in 1985, is one of the giants of intellectual history and political philosophy. Unfortunately, he is far less well-recognized outside of a small scholarly community than some of the poseurs who foist quack theories on the public under the guise of "political philosophy." The New Science of Politics, based on Voegelin's Walgreen Lectures, can be read as a theoretical companion to his magisterial Order and History, a five-volume elaboration of the theories presented here. Voegelin provides an examination of political community and its representations through symbolic appropriation and the underlying basis of political order throughout history. Equally, Voegelin deals with misappropriation of symbols in the form of Gnosticism, which emerged at the dawn of the middle ages. His diagnostic exercise leads to an examination of modernity, which is characterized by advance and decline, the nature of of our own times. Modernist movements such as Nazism and Communism embody gnostic misappropriation of the symbolization of order. Writing in the immediate postwar period as an Austrian refugee from Hitler, with a command of ancient and modern philosophy and history and access to documentation in a dozen languages, Voegelin both lays the foundation for a return to the Aristotelean tradition of political philosophy and analysis and provides the personal witness of a research physician who has examined the patient at close hand. There is no better short book in our times for accomplishing Dr. Johnson's admonition to clear your mind of cant, or providing a sound basis for recognizing the corruption of intellectual and personal standards in current politics and scholarship, or the infection of scholarship by extremist politics. Voegelin has a number of brilliant students carrying on his work. However, unlike acolytes of Leo Strauss and Allan Bloom and their neo-conservative entourage, who represent a very different and self-referential strain in modern political analysis, Voegelin's students have not populated the high offices of government. Given the power of Voegelin's model presented in The New Science of Politics, I expect and hope that his long-term influence will weigh decisively in the war on modernity and its pernicious supporting social science-based infrastructure. To understand the contours of the problem, The New Science of Politics is an indispensible guide and a model of elegant anlysis and writing.

Classical Politics in age of Enlightenment Tyranny

Eric Voegelin New Science of Politics is a masterpiece of classical political theory. His analysis rested upon the idea that the modern political theorist have distorted the classical tradition in order to create a new manufactured political Enlightenment theory. The breakdown of philosophy into a series of political ideologies has created the modern tragedy of bizarre collection of distorted views of human nature. Essentially, Voegelin used the title New Science of Politics to rediscover the essential foundations of politics based on a theory of human rationalism. The current political theorist tend to view the political nature of representation based on a deformed psychological conception of modern man, i.e. Shelley's Frankenstein. The book gives new insights and sources to the essential characteristics of the good society. The book integrates the classical political theories of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle to create a philosophical context to analyze the intellectual "second reality" of the modern period. The idea of another "Heaven's Gate" in the post-modern era is contained within the political dialogue of modern nihilism.

Classical Politics in an Age of Enlightenment Tyranny

Eric Voegelin's New Science of Politics is a masterpiece of classical political theory. His analysis rested upon the idea that the modern political theorist have distorted the classical tradition in order to create a new manufactured political Enlightenment theory. The breakdown of philosophy into a series of political ideologies has created the modern tragedy of a bizarre collection of distorted views of human nature. Essenitally, Voegelin used the title New Science of Politics to rediscover the essential foundations of politics based on a theory of human rationalism. The current political theorist tend to view the political nature of representation- which is based on a deformed psychological model of modern man, i.e. Shelley's Frankenstein. The book gives new insights and sources to the essential characteristics of the good society. The book integrates the classical political theories of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle to create a philosophical context to analyze the intellectual "second reality" of the modern period. The idea of another "Heaven Gate" and "Killing Fields" in the post-modern era is contained within the political dialogue of modern political nihilism.